


Not as Planned

by Geromy



Series: Mcreyes Winter Break 2018 [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, basically deadlock make snuff films
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-02 08:52:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13314744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geromy/pseuds/Geromy
Summary: An easy mission, get in, grab the bad guy, get out, interrupted by an avalanche that traps them in the middle of no where. Gabe's going to have to rethink his strategy, especially considering there's something about this bad guy that just isn't... All that bad.McReyes Winter Break 2018 -> Day one: Snowed in





	Not as Planned

 

Overwatch had been keeping an eye on a new industry that had begun cropping up: Scrap films. It was the omnic hater’s answer to the snuff film; watching an omnic get destroyed, most often through electrical overload or water damage short-circuiting, usually after a brief introduction to their lives and a few minutes of torture. 

From what their intelligence could tell, the entire industry was under the head of one kingpin. And all of their business was done online. Films surfaced on all corners of the dark web, occasionally seeping into 4Chan or Twitters that were taken down within a day. But when traced, these videos originated all over the world. 

They managed to find one origin point had been reused multiple times. A small rancher town in the middle of the Rocky Mountains in Montana. Population 340, several hours off the i15, one road in, straight to a dead end at the other end of town. 

Finding who was responsible was easy, internet connections in that town were modest besides one particular house in a cul-de-sac two lefts past the grocery. They’d sent recon a few weeks ago to try and track the guy down. He fit right in, the entire town was what you would expect: gun toting, Republican, and as anti-omnic as anti-everything else. 

But, the perp was careless. Clearly thought he was safe in this nowhere nothing town, and walked into the flagged house without checking for a tail. It’s as though he wasn’t even hiding.

At that point, the case was handed off to Blackwatch for the follow through (something about not wanting to make Overwatch look “biased” towards omnics, fucking stupid). Gabriel already made the plans to go in alone. The guy was a one man show, and clearly had never harmed anything but fried bots he snuck up on. No way he’d get a jump on spies, especially not post-SEP. No use wasting resources. More guys he sent in, more likely this wouldn’t get taken care of quietly. 

It was an easy mission. Get this guy, shut down his supply, use him to get information on the higher-ups and shut the whole operation down.

 

Day one: Extraction

 

The radio had turned to static ages ago as Gabriel made his way down this highway to nowhere, and he was now driving to nothing but the sound of his fans blowing relentlessly on the windshield to keep it from fogging up. Winter had hit hard here, and even with the heat on full blast he was freezing his ass off, heightened senses feeling every inch that the sun descended. His eyes shot to the small green road sign as he passed it. 5 and a half more miles.

As he reached the town he slowed to the new speed limit, taking careful note of his surroundings. Looked like everything was on the main road. Drive up motel, small grocery store, one bar, a K-12 school, one single Bank of America. Everything else, closed and boarded up. There must have been a second road  _ somewhere. _ No way this town didn’t at least have a city hall or a post office. Luckily for him, it was irrelevant. Recon was finished. This was a get in and get out job.

He pulled into the cul-de-sac at 4:24PM. Perp’s truck was out front so he wasn’t out getting a new victim, making the odds of him being inside fairly high. Wasn’t much to see in this town to be going for an evening stroll. He parked his truck at the end of the driveway to prevent any sort of quick get away. A quick glance around at the other houses for civilians showed no witnesses around, and he picked up his guns from the passenger seat. He double checked his ammo and holstered them, climbing out of the car.

Cold air hit him like a wave, and he winced as it stung his face and made his nostrils sticky. He buried his mouth in the crook of his elbow as he approached the house. Someone was definitely inside, steam billowing up from the roof. When he reached the door, he knocked on it hard with the side of his fist. 

He listened carefully as he waited. There didn’t seem to be any stirring, or foot steps. He couldn’t hear a TV on. 

Gabe didn’t bother knocking again. One swift kick sent the door off its hinges, hitting the floor with a crash. His boots landed heavy as he stepped on the splintered wood, pulling up his guns and holding them at the ready. He’d done this song and dance a million times, with people a lot more dangerous than this. This was going to be child’s play.

Now that he was inside, standing in the foyer that separated the house into the upstairs and the downstairs, he could hear the clanging of metal coming up from the basement. Did he have a victim inside right now? He filmed in his own basement? The thought made Gabe sick but he pressed on, back to the wall as he moved silently down the stairs.

The sound was coming from behind a closed door. He could hear a voice inside, humming along to a song. Pitchy and loud, definitely going along to a song that was in a pair of headphones.

“ _ It’s time to take, my drunk ass home. I drank all the whiskey and my money’s all gone.”  _

Gabriel holster one of his guns and turned the door knob, carefully pushing the door open. There he was. Same guy from the intel. Back turned to Gabe, he was sat on top of a wooden stool with a bottle of whiskey at his feet. He was throwing scraps of metal into some kind of furnace, in what looked to be a reservoir full of molten steel. Gabriel’s stomach did a flip flop. Not only did he just finish up with a victim, he was melting them down to hide the evidence. 

“ _ But one turned to 10, and 10 turned to 20. And 20 plus an empty bottle’s too damn m- _ ”

The cold press of Gabriel’s gun barrel to the back of his head seemed to shut him up. The music kept going but he straightened his back, raising both hands up to his head.

“I told ya I’ll have parts when I have ‘em, no use threatenin’ me. I ain’t no alchemist.”

Gabriel reached forward, yanking out his earbuds. The guy yelped in pain, but Gabriel started speaking before he could get out any snark.

“You’re coming with me, ingrate. Your little chop shop here is finished.” 

“Well shit,” the guy uttered, something in his tone that Gabriel couldn’t quite place. Why did it almost feel like… Sarcasm? “Guess it was bound to happen eventually.” 

Suspicion was hitting Gabriel hard. Something about this wasn’t right. It was too easy. He pulled cuffs from his belt and put the guy in them. He gave the guy at quick pat down, pocketing his cell phone. Was that really it? The job was done, just like that? No gun fight, no argument, no on-foot chase? This wasn’t what he expected from a crime ring. His gut was conflicted between wanting to take this pace and run with it, get out of here before something bad happened, and taking a time out, to get to the bottom of this.

If he had the luxury of backup, maybe he would have sat down here and interrogated this guy. But on his own, he shouldn’t take the risk.

“So what happens next? Ain’t you s’posed to be readin’ me my rights ‘n’ all that?” 

“Sure, you have the right to keep your damn mouth shut. Or don’t, I’m not a cop. I don’t really care.” Gabe’s hand was large on his arm, hoisting him up from the stool he was sitting on and starting to lead him toward the stairs.

“You’re not a cop? How the hell are you arrestin’ me then?” 

The guy glanced over his shoulder at Gabriel, and they met eyes for a moment. Something in him looked… Relieved. Exhausted. Definitely drunk. Maybe even high. 

“We’ll get to that. You’re gonna come back with me, we’re going to take a nice plane ride, and you’re going to tell us about every single contact you have who has anything to do with your peep shows.” Gabriel was careful as he pushed the guy up the stairs, steadying him when he wobbled.

“Oh, shit.” The guy’s head slumped, and he wheezed out a laugh. “You know about the movies. I thought I was actually under arrest for sellin’ all the scraps to the rednecks around here.” There was that tone again. Mocking, sarcastic. Gabriel didn’t take the bait.

“You need to sober up.”

“McCree,” he said.

“Excuse me?” 

“The name. ‘S McCree.”

 

It took a lot of strong arming but eventually, McCree was settled in the front seat of the pick-up, buckled in, slumped against the cool glass of the passenger side window. Gabriel headed straight toward the exit of town with zero stops along the way. The drop point was a couple hours away, far enough from the mountains for a carrier to land without incident. But with McCree sobering up in complete silence, Gabriel was sure the ride would fly by.

The sun was long since gone when Gabriel caught up with car in front of him, at a complete stop. He watched it pull off to the side of the road, and pull a u-turn directly in front of him. That’s when he saw why they were stopped. Two road closed signs were blocking either lane, construction vehicles and workers bustling on the other side of them under bright, portable street lights.

“What?”

McCree didn’t stir, asleep in the passenger seat. 

A woman in a large reflective jacket approached the driver’s side door, and Gabriel rolled down his window.

“Sorry buddy, y’all are gonna have to turn back,” she told him, her tone apologetic. “There’s been an avalanche. Road’s completely buried. It’s gonna take us a couple days to clear it.” 

It’s felt like Gabriel’s mind was malfunctioning, shutting down from an error so unexpected he had no idea how to comprehend it. A couple days. He had a  _ man in custody _ and he wasn’t going to be able to get out of here for  _ a couple days? _

“There’s no other road back to the i15?” He asked. The woman gave her head a shake. He wanted to lash out, but from the look of how red her nose was, she was miserable enough out here without him getting out of hand over something she had no control over.

“No other road out. And with the mountains unstable it won’t be safe to bring in any larger vehicles to get the job done faster.” 

That probably included helicopters.  _ Especially _ included helicopters. If a bulldozer was loud enough to cause more upset, anything in the air might stir up an actual natural disaster.

“Are y’all not from around here?” She asked.

“No,” he answered, glancing over at McCree in his front seat. He couldn’t take them back to his house. That’d be the easiest place for his buddies to find him, easiest place for him to get ahold of a weapon, easiest place to call for help. 

“There’s a motel back in the town you can stay at. They usually don’t charge in situations like this. Best hurry though, I’ve already turned back a few cars tonight.” 

“Shit,” he sighed, giving his steering wheel a smack. This just got a lot more complicated. And lord  _ knows _ Jack was going to act like the forces of God and mother nature were Gabe’s fault. “Thanks. Have a good night, Ma’am.” 

“Same to you both. We’ll be workin’ hard here to get y’all on your way as soon as we can.” 

After rolling up his window, Gabriel followed behind the car that had been in front of him: pulled over, made a U-turn, and headed back towards the town. It would have been nice to get warning a little bit sooner, but he supposed he’d gone by a few ranch driveways that needed access to the town.

McCree woke up at some point, slumping forward in his seat. 

“Am I in jail yet,” he groaned. He looked like he was going to be sick. Oh well, this was a company truck. 

“No. We hit a snag. Sounds like we’re going to be stuck here a couple days. An avalanche buried the road out.” Gabriel broke out into a yawn, body shuddering in the cold. 

“You’re gonna keep me in cuffs for a couple days?” McCree asked, slumping back against the window. How did he touch that glass? It must have been completely freezing. 

“Yup. And we’re checking into the motel. And if you try  _ anything _ I  _ will _ risk burying this entire town in mountain snow to call in backup. You decide how you want to do this.” 

McCree only replied with a scoff. When Gabe looked over to him, he was scowling. He just couldn’t get a read on this guy. Something was ticking in his brain. But it was a complete mystery as to what. 

They drove in silence for a while, until McCree spoke again, “Can you at least move the cuffs to the front so I can piss?”

Gabriel pulled his bottom lip between his teeth to stop himself from barking out a laugh. Though he was sure a bit of a snicker snuck out his nose.

“How good’s your aim? I’ll just cuff you to shower curtain rod.” 

“Alright, that’ll work.” 

 

When they arrived at the motel, Gabriel spent a long moment going over his options for checking in. He couldn’t bring McCree in in cuffs, this was supposed to be a completely discreet mission. He didn’t like the idea of leaving him unattended either. Even cuffed to the car somewhere he could start calling for help so long as he could get the door open. He was stroking his goatee as he thought, more than a little distracted by the feeling of McCree’s gaze watching him. 

“We gonna go get a room or what?” he asked eventually, rolling his shoulders as best he could. Gabriel turned to face him, his eyes narrow. “What? Y’know you don’t gotta treat me like a piece of meat, I’m just a regular guy. Y’ain’t even told me your name yet.” 

“You can call me Reyes,” he answered, giving his head a shake when he realized he’d let himself get distracted. “And we’re going to, I’m just trying to figure out what to do with you.” 

McCree sucked on his teeth thoughfully, looking forward at the office door. “Keep an arm behind me to hold onto the cuffs. Then they won’t know they’re there and you’ll just look like a touchy-feely overprotective husband.” 

That… Was actually a good idea. 

“How do I know you’re not going to open your mouth to stir up trouble?” Gabriel watched him as he rolled his eyes, avoiding eye contact like a moody teenager.

“You really think if I wanted to be out of the cops’ hands I’d even be here?” 

_ What? _ Was he saying he’d gotten caught on purpose? That would sure as hell explain why his location was so easy to track down, and why his security was so lacklustre. But why? Was this some kind of trap? Was he supposed to be some expendable trojan horse? But if he was, why say something?

He made a note to mention it to Jack later, climbing out of the truck. He moved around to the other side to let McCree out, moving an arm comfortably around his waist and getting a fist around the chain of the cuffs. 

“At least wait until we’re in the room to get rough,  _ Honey, _ ” McCree snarked, and Gabriel found himself grinning. 

 

Surprisingly, McCree’s plan went without a hitch. He played the part well, cooed out pet names and kept bumping their hips together, even slipped a hand in his own back pocket to make his arms behind his back a little more nonchalant. He was a lot more lively as they made their way to room 12, a complete 180 from his moody self in the truck.

“How about we go grab some grub,” he asked, letting Gabriel lead him into the motel room and making a beeline for the one queen bed. “I’m starving.” 

Gabe closed the door behind him, locking up the chain and moving straight to the curtains to draw them closed. 

“I already ate. You’ll be alright for today.” 

McCree didn’t look amused as he sat his ass down on the bed. “You can’t be serious. There’s no way it’s legal to treat men in custody like that.” 

Gabe stepped toward him after he shucked off his jacket, a strong hand landing on McCree’s arm and yanking him to his feet. He turned him around and started shoving him toward the bathroom. 

“I already told you kid. I’m not a cop. I don’t have to follow the law. And I sure as hell don’t have to take care of scum like you.” 

Once they were settled in the bathroom Gabe pulled the keys to the cuffs out of his pocket, freeing one of McCree’s hands and cuffing the other one to the shower curtain rod, as promised.

“If you’re not a cop, then what is all this about?” McCree asked, his mood clearly starting to level back to normal.

“You’ll find out. Piss away.” 

With a salute of his fingers he left the bathroom, switching off the light and closing the door firmly behind him.

Once his pants were off he got comfortable in the bed, turning on the TV but keeping it muted while he got ahold of Morrison over the comms.

“Subject’s in custody, but we hit a snag. The only road out of the town’s been blocked in an avalanche. I’ve got him cuffed in the bathroom of this motel room.” 

“Guess that’ll have to do,” Jack quipped, not even remotely watching his tone or where he directed his anger. “I’ll get some surveillance down there so you know exactly when you can leave. In the meantime, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how to do your job.” 

“The kid’s unarmed and I took away his cell phone. Things are going to be just fine. But Jack, there’s one thing I’m a little suspicious of.” 

Jack cut him off. “Save it for your report. See you in two days.” 

The line went dead. Gabriel could have crushed the communicator, if circumstances were better. Could have written something  _ real _ snarky on the expense report, too. Comm damaged on account of Commander Morrison is a piece of shit.

 

Day two: Laying low

 

When Gabriel awoke in the morning, it was only six AM. The usual time he woke up. But as he stared at the clock, long enough for the number to flip over to 6:01, he came to the realization that he was at a standstill right now. There was nothing to be done but to sit in this hotel room on his hands, and wait for Jack to let him know they could leave. 

He rolled onto his back, spread his limbs to take advantage of this entire queen bed, and closed his eyes. 

Two more hours ticked by before he woke up again, feeling more rested than he had felt in years. He got up slowly, pulled his pants back on slowly, found CNN on the TV slowly, and made his way to the coffee pot, slowly.

He picked up both the mugs and made his way into the bathroom, turning on the light so suddenly that McCree yelled in agony.

“Come on man, I ain’t even slept. You can’t just blind me like that.” 

Gabriel was in such a chipper mood from his extra rest, he just smiled. “You want coffee?” 

He turned to McCree to hear his answer, but he was mostly just glaring. Bags under his eyes, his hand probably pins and needles from hanging up there all night. 

“Tell you what. Let me go put this pot of coffee on, then I’ll move you to the couch so you can get some shut eye. Now that I’ve slept I can keep an eye on you.” 

McCree let out a over dramatic sigh, but a grin was tugging at his mouth. It was infectious, too. “Alright. But you have  _ gotta _ feed me at some point. My stomachs gonna start eating itself.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Gabriel took his mugs back to the main room, filling the reservoir of the coffee maker and turning it on to brew. 

As the coffee machine worked Gabriel got McCree set, cuffing him in the front so he could drink, sitting him down on the couch. He seemed really engrossed in the news when Gabe finally brought him a mug, unceremoniously tossing down the packets of sugar and whitener. 

“Always thought I’d make it on the news when I got caught,” he mused, drinking his coffee black. Gabe was the same, hunched over his knees on the bed as his eyes moved between McCree and the TV. 

“No glamour in getting picked up by Blackwatch. Sorry, kid.” 

McCree shot him a look, sitting up a little in his seat.

“ _ You’re _ Blackwatch? I thought they were a myth.”

Gabriel grinned proudly behind his mug of coffee, not saying anything further. Let the kid think he might be lying. More fun that way.

 

McCree didn’t last long once he was laying down. He’d managed to pillow his arms under his head which Gabe could only assume was completely not comfortable at all. But from what he could tell, it was doing the trick. McCree didn’t stir, didn’t shift around or roll over. He was completely relaxed. Breathing even, REM cycles normal. 

Gabe didn’t realize how long he had been watching him sleep until he heard a buzzing behind him. It was McCree’s phone, the one he had confiscated. 

He moved over the other side of the bed to pick it up. It continued to vibrate persistently, “Unknown Number” reading on the caller ID. His mind ticked as he felt the rings, until the call stopped. 

If McCree’s higher ups were calling, eventually they’d get suspicious when he didn’t answer. Which meant Gabe needed to be ready if this turned into a gun fight. There would be no telling how many guys might show up to shake down McCree, and even less telling how well Gabriel would be equipped to deal with them on his own. All he could do was be ready. Keep his guns close, keep his door locked.

He carried the phone over to where McCree was sleeping and took a seat on the coffee table, pulling out his hand and getting his thumb on the scanner. The phone didn’t unlock though, looking for a passcode. He could have broken into it, if he had more of his tech. But he was supposed to be back in Gibraltar by now, with his entire team and all the tech he would need. It would have to wait. Hopefully the men on the other side of this crime ring were used to getting stuffed on the answered phone calls.

Gabriel ended up watching TV for hours while McCree slept. Sent the maid away, took a peak at the pile of local brochures in the side table. After a while he crouched close to McCree’s sleeping form, carefully taking his hands. He undid one of his cuffs again, attaching the other side to the copper pipe under the radiator. That should hold him. 

McCree didn’t stir at all, still completely out. Apparently he needed the rest. Gabe got caught up watching him again. There was more to this story. This wasn’t a sociopath murdering omnics for fun. But if it wasn’t, then what  _ was _ it?

Gabriel finally turned away, making his way to the bathroom and closing the door behind him. He needed a shower. And then, he needed to eat. 

When he came out of the bathroom he had a towel around his waist and another draped around the back of his neck, t-shirt in hand. McCree was finally awake, groggy and still on the couch as he watched the television. 

“So,” Gabriel started, sliding his arms into his shirt and pulling it on. “Where can you order pizza around here?” 

McCree rolled onto his back as well as he could, arm hanging off the couch where it was cuffed to the radiator.

“No where. The bar’s got pretty good food, but. You’d have to trust me without the cuffs.” McCree’s grin was smug, his free arm flopping to cover his eyes. “Ain’t no UberEats out here.”

Unfortunately, he was right. He couldn’t leave McCree alone. And he couldn’t exactly parade him around shackled like some bad exhibitionist bondage. Once again, Gabriel found himself thoughtfully stroking his goatee, stuck on what to do. 

McCree seemed to run out of patience, letting out a loud groan. “Come on. I haven’t eaten in a  _ day _ . You’re gonna be bringin’ me back to your people  _ dead.  _ Then all that information you want from me’s gonna be lost forever.  _ Please _ let’s just go eat. I’m not gonna run away, you can hold my hand the entire damn night. Keep your guns on you. I don’t  _ care, _ I’m  _ starving. _ ” 

He didn’t want to seem soft, but Gabe kind of liked the groveling. He found himself grinning, moving his hand away from his face to cross his arms over his chest. His team should act more like this. Easy way to get what they want. But maybe none of them were good looking enough to get away with it.

“Alright. But you’re staying in the cuffs on the way there.”

“ _ Yes! _ ” 

 

The bar in town was definitely more of a saloon; posters for different whisky brands plastered on the wall, football game on the couple of TVs, country music blowing out the speakers. McCree seemed to be enjoying his new found freedom, but as promised, he kept a hold of Gabriel’s hand, even as he weaved them through the crowd of other patrons to an empty table. 

Of course, Gabe kept his guns and the cuffs on him, but it was still endearing of the kid to try. 

A waitress came by suspiciously fast, but before Gabriel could even try and reach for the menus she was holding, she threw her arms around McCree.

“Jesse! I was wondering what happened to you! We missed you yesterday.” 

_ Jesse? _ Guess he had a full name now.  _ Jesse _ put his arms around the girl in return, pulling her tight against him. His hands were huge on her back. 

“You know I’d never leave y’all alone on a Friday night if it weren’t an emergency.” 

As the girl stepped back she turned to Gabe. “Who’s your friend?” 

“Oh, this is Martin. We met online, just had to show him my favorite local spot.” 

Gabriel somehow bit back the urge to roll his eyes. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.” He was a little caught off guard when she took his hand, but shoot it all the same.

“You too! Hope you’re liking the town so far. You’ve got a real catch here!” She put a hand on McCree’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. Wonder what was going on there. 

“It’s great. Really beautiful.” 

She lit up, finally handing off the menus. McCree practically snatched it out of her hands.  “I’m so glad to hear that! Either of you need a drink?” 

“Whisky for me,” McCree answered, already folding up his menu. “And some onion rings, ASAP. I’m starving.” 

Her hands went into her back pockets as she turned to Gabe expectantly. As much as having a beer sounded nice…

“No drink for him,” McCree said suddenly, shooting Gabe a wink. “Just two waters.” 

“Two waters and a whisky, I’ll be right back.” 

“Thanks, Doll.” 

As the woman walked away Gabriel raised an eyebrow, shooting McCree a look. He ended up shrugging.

“I figured you’d want to stay vigilant, sober, all that crap. Just wanted to prove I didn’t take you to a bar to get your guard down so. I made an executive decision.” 

The praise didn’t leave his mouth but… That really was impressive. He kept his menu down low enough that McCree was still in his peripheral vision, reading it over to try and find something to eat. He needed meat, that was for sure. 

When their drinks arrived McCree downed his in an instant, and immediately ordered another. That’s when it dawned on Gabe that McCree didn’t have a wallet. 

“Two’s enough,  _ Dear, _ ” he warned, closing his menu. McCree bat his eyelashes, but the look on his face was dripping in sarcasm. 

“Yessir.” 

Christ, this kid was too young to be an alcoholic.

They ordered once McCree’s appetizer arrived. And the way he scarfed down those rings like his life depended on it made Gabriel feel… guilty. He should have fed the kid after all. And maybe he would have, if he had known how reasonable he was. No escape attempts, nothing but respect once he sobered up, completely respectable requests.

The plate was clean in seconds, and he downed his second whisky before the waitress could even set it on the table.

“C’mon,” he mumbled, mouth still full. His hand shot across the table, taking Gabe’s and giving it a tug. “You dance?” 

McCree didn’t give him a chance to reply. They were on the dance floor before he could protest. He wasn’t exactly sure how one danced to country music so he mostly just watched, keeping close, letting McCree take his hand whenever he wanted to take a spin. The alcohol apparently hit him fast, because it wasn’t long before his arms were dangling off Gabe’s shoulders. Gabriel held him at the waist, keeping his from falling as he swayed left and right. 

“I’m kinda excited to go to jail,” he mused. “Free meals, outside time. Betcha got a library in there. We don’t got one of those here.” 

“I’m sure you’ll take full advantage of all the amenities.”

He was snarking back, but something in his gut wasn’t sitting right. This guy wanted to go to jail. Wherever he was at now, he wanted jail more. Something was wrong. And something in Gabe just wanted to do something about it. 

“Jesse McCree!” 

They both turned to the voice to see the waitress standing at their table, holding their dinners high above her head. McCree went bounding back like an obedient dog, jumping into his seat. Gabe wasn’t far behind, wiping sweat off the back of his neck with his palm.

“Thank you kindly, Ma’am,” he cooed, not waiting for Gabe to sit before digging in. Gabe thanked her too and she went on her way, letting the two of them eat their meals. 

McCree didn’t say much through dinner, scarfing his food down and getting engrossed in the football game. He drank two full glasses of water at least, so the alcohol shouldn’t be a problem by the time they got back to the motel. Gabe was a little bit slower with his meal, clearly not quite as hungry as McCree had been. He really didn’t need to eat more than once a day anymore. A side effect of the SEP, apparently.

He fingered through the cash in his wallet while the game was finishing up, leaving a sizable tip. This waitress was clearly a friend of  _ Jesse _ ’s, and he could expense it all anyway, so why not? 

The game ended in defeat and McCree chugged the last of his water, turning the glass over. He stood immediately, not bothering to ask Gabe if he was ready to leave. He did however reach to take Gabriel’s hand again, and Gabe let him, getting dragged out the door and back to the truck. 

 

It was a short drive back. McCree was back in handcuffs for it, letting himself get dragged back into the motel room by the chain. Gabe didn’t direct him anywhere once he was inside though, letting him move to the bed and collapse on it. 

Gabriel locked the door behind him, pulling his hoodie up over his head and tossing it on the couch. 

“So, Jesse?” 

McCree grunted from the bed. 

“Is that your real name? Jesse McCree? Or is that just an alias you use to trick the locals.” 

There was a moment of silence between McCree rolled over and sat back up. Judging by that look in his eyes, Gabe had said something wrong.

“I’m not  _ tricking _ anyone. I’m  _ from _ here. These people are my family.” 

Gabriel scoffed, “Does your family know all the spare parts you sell them come from innocent omnics you stockpile and kill for big wigs around the world to get their rocks off?” 

He didn’t miss the was McCree’s strong gaze faltered for a brief second. He turned away completely, jaw clenched. 

“Yeah well. That’s why you’re here. So I can’t hurt anymore people. No more killin’ bots, no more lying to my friends. You’re stoppin’ it all. You caught the bad guy.” 

Gabriel crossed his arms, drawing in a deep breath. As he exhaled, he dug into his pockets.

McCree seemed surprised to see his cuffs coming off, rubbing at his wrists and watching Gabe warily. Waiting for the catch.

“Why don’t you go have a shower. You’ll feel better. We should be able to get out of here tomorrow, at some point.”

There was no window in the bathroom, Gabriel could leave him unattended in there, so long as he didn’t take his cell phone in with him. McCree gave a tired nod, his eyes glazed over in exhaustion. He managed to pick himself up off the bed, carefully wobbling into the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

Gabriel turned on the TV once he heard the shower running, peeling off his pants again and getting comfortable in bed. God he couldn’t wait to have a change of clothes. If dragging McCree around wasn’t such a pain, maybe he would have stopped somewhere. Surely this town had a thrift store. 

 

McCree took his time in the shower. Gabe had watched so many CNN segments while still listening to the sound of water running and McCree’s weight shifting in the tub as he turned. Even after the sound of the water stopped, he stayed in the bathroom for awhile. Blow dried his hair, ran the water in the sink for a bit. Probably trying to makeshift brush his teeth. 

If he hadn’t grown to like the guy so much, Gabriel might be a little more suspicious. 

He stopped listening in on the bathroom sounds when he heard his communicator chime, pressing a finger to it to listen in,

“Looks like the snow is mostly cleared out. They’ll probably just need overnight to get all the vehicles out of there. I’d suggest just leaving in the morning, wait at the point of the closure instead of waiting to hear from me. The drive from the town to that gate is too long to wait in town.” 

“Understood,” Gabe answered, glancing over when he saw the bathroom door unlock.

“Really? No fight? No arguing? You feeling okay over there?” 

McCree emerged from the bathroom in his boxers and tshirt, looking the most comfortable he had in days, and completely refreshed. 

“Everything’s fine, Morrison. See you tomorrow.” Gabriel held McCree’s gaze as he turned off the comm, plucking it out of his ear. “How’re you feeling?”

“Better,” McCree answered, breathing out a sigh. “Didn’t even realize how much I needed it. ‘Ppreciate the suggestion.” 

Gabe turned back to the TV, although his gaze was still averted all the way to the left, watching McCree tentatively get closer, scratching at his facial hair.

“Are you going to. Uh. Chain me up in the bathroom again tonight?” 

Gabriel glanced down at his lap where his hands were wringing together.

“No. I’m not. You can sleep with me. Just wake me up if you need it. Sound good?” 

The tension in McCree’s shoulders visibly relaxed and he grinned, although it was pretty weak. He made a beeline for the other side of the bed, throwing himself down face first into the pillow. Gabriel laughed, watching McCree slowly roll over as he pulled the covers out from under him.

“You’re gonna freeze like that, get under the blankets.” 

He didn’t protest, wiggling himself comfortably as he pulled the cover up to his chin. “God this feels nice. I mean the couch did the trick, but this feels like heaven on Earth.” There was a pause, before McCree glanced up at him “What’re you gonna chain me to? Headboard’s nailed to the wall.”

Gabriel turned away, grabbing the cuffs from the bedside table. And promptly locking one around his own wrist. 

McCree didn’t speak. He turned his back to Gabe and closed his eyes, letting him slot them together, and throwing the cuffed arm over McCree’s form to put his wrist in the other side. Gabe didn’t feel quite ready to sleep, but if McCree was, he’d force it.

McCree’s body shuddered for a few minutes until he warmed up, and he spent the rest of the night still and quiet, breathing slow and shallow. Gabriel was enjoying the extra body heat, and it took him less time than he was expecting to drift off, too.

 

Day three: Pick-up 

 

Gabriel awoke in the morning to the sound of his comms relentlessly beeping for attention. That must have meant the road was cleared, and Jack wanted to know why the hell they hadn’t gotten their asses in gear yet. He rolled over onto his back with a stretch, listening to the jingle of the handcuff dangling from his wrist.

_ Wait- _

He shot up in an instant in panic, only to find McCree sitting right on the couch. He was hunched over, face illuminated by the screen of his phone. 

Gabriel threw off his covers, storming over and snatching the cell phone away. He couldn’t believe the betrayal that was churning in his gut. Did he really let himself get tricked? He should have known, McCree played his part so well every time they had to trick locals. Why would Gabe be surprised he was getting worked over this whole time, too?

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

McCree didn’t answer immediately. He didn’t flinch, or look away from where his phone had been a moment ago. Eventually though he sat back slightly, sniffing loudly. His voice was hoarse, low and tired. “I told you if I didn’t want to be here I wouldn’t be.” 

Gabriel softened slightly. So he meant it. He could have picked the cuff locks at any point and gotten out. That settled it then, he had gotten caught on purpose. He lifted the phone he had taken away, glancing at the screen and looking through all the apps McCree had open. 

41 missed calls. A long string of unanswered text messages, getting increasingly more violent and threatening. 

“Didn’t deliver last night so. I’m out,” McCree said, rubbing his arm along his nose. His eyes were swollen, his shoulders slumped. He was giving up. “They’re on their way here. Not sure if they’re going to leave me alive or not.” 

“McCree…” 

“I never wanted to do this. I did it once because I needed money. I was never gonna do it a second time. But they kept demanding more. Threatening to kill me if I didn’t deliver.” 

“McCree.” 

“I don’t even dislike omnics. But I’ve killed so many. I was so happy when you finally came. I could rot in jail and I wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else. But instead, I’m just gonna get beaten to death and thrown in some ditch somewhere. Maybe I deserve it.” 

Gabriel sighed. This poor fucking kid. He took a seat on the coffee table, setting two heavy, grounding hands down on either of McCree’s thighs. 

“Jesse.” 

He finally seemed to come out of his trance, eyes glossy. 

“I’m not giving up on you. Something didn’t feel right about this from the moment I picked you up. You’re not evil, and you don’t deserve to rot in jail, or a ditch, or anywhere else. You made a mistake and got taken advantage of. You have plenty of time to turn things around.” 

Gabe was caught off guard by the weak sob that escaped Jesse’s lips, eyes shooting down to his lap. 

“Even if they’re on their way here, they’re going to waste a hell of a lot of time going to your house and searching there. We’re going to get out of here.”

“What?”

It only took one swift movement of the arm. He sent Jesse’s phone hurtling towards the metal door of the motel room, watching it shatter and sprinkle to the floor in pieces. Jesse flinched at the sight of it, blinking tears out of his eyes and watching Gabe carefully.

“I’m Blackwatch. I can get people a lot bigger than you off the grid. Come work for me. No more killing innocent people, just incapacitating ones we need to interrogate. Save the bullets for the bad guys. Sound good?” 

Jesse’s gaze fell back down to his lap. His hands were fidgeting. Gabe hadn’t seen him this anxious, not even when he had a gun pulled on him. He didn’t answer. 

Gabriel moved a hand to Jesse’s chin, tilting his head up. They held each other's gaze, until Gabe leaned forward and pressed their lips together.

He felt Jesse sob against him again, almost knocking him off balance as he shot up off the couch and climbed up on the table on his knees, straddling Gabe’s lap. His arms shot around Gabe’s neck and held on for dear life, pressing himself closer as he curled away from Gabe’s hands on his back.

When he pulled away he laughed, wiping his face clean of tears.

“Gonna come with me?” 

Jesse nodded, letting out a long, relaxed breath. “Yeah. Anywhere.” 

 

The trip to the pick-up went without incident. The day felt warmer, the road was cleared when they reached it. They got far enough away from town for the radio to come back on in the truck. The men on the carrier weren’t sure what to make of Jesse coming up not in cuffs, but hand in hand with their commander, but none of them dared to say a word about it. 

Gabe knew Jack would, though. But that was just a bonus. 

**Author's Note:**

> im super not happy with this fic so i might revisit it later to rewrite it but for now gotta keep up with the challenge. just like, dont be surprised if you come back to reread it someday and its completely different LUL
> 
> follow me on twitter! https://twitter.com/stakesreyesd


End file.
